Brazen And The Beast by Sarah MacLean

Brazen And The Beast (Bareknuckle Bastards, #2)

by Sarah MacLean

'I loved it' Eloisa James
'Smart, sexy, and always romantic' Julia Quinn
'For a smart, witty and passionate historical romance, I recommend anything by Sarah MacLean' Lisa Kleypas

The Lady's Plan . . .

When Lady Henrietta Sedley declares her twenty-ninth year 'The Year of Hattie', she has plans. Plans to inherit her father's business, to make her own fortune and finally to experience a taste of the pleasure she'll forgo as a confirmed spinster. She does not, however, plan to find the most beautiful man she's ever seen tied up in her carriage and threatening to ruin The Year of Hattie before it's even begun.

The Bastard's Proposal . . .

After waking in a carriage at Hattie's feet, Whit - a king of Covent Garden known to all the world as Beast - can't help but wonder about the strange woman who frees him, especially when he discovers her plans for a night of pleasure. He is more than happy to offer Hattie all she desires . . . for a price.

An Unexpected Passion . . .

Soon, Hattie and Whit find themselves rivals in business and pleasure: she won't give up her plans; he won't give up his power . . . but if they're not careful, they'll have no choice but to give up everything, including their hearts.

xxx

Praise for Sarah MacLean:

'My absolute go-to author for clever, sexy and fun historical romances' Jennifer L. Armentrout

'Sarah MacLean has reignited the romance genre with a bolder edge' The New Yorker

'Funny, smart, feminist and roastingly hot' BookRiot

'Do yourself a favor and discover the compelling magic of Sarah MacLean' Amanda Quick


'MacLean writes with an entirely unique blend of elegance and ferocity that bursts from every page' Entertainment Weekly

xxx

THE BAREKNUCKLE BASTARDS

Three brothers, bound by a secret they cannot escape . . .

The Devil, all vengeance and vice
The Beast, all fists and fury
The Duke, all power and past

. . . and the women who bring them to their knees.

Reviewed by nitzan_schwarz on

4 of 5 stars

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I've read two historical romances back to back, from two different authors, with similar themes. I am not complaining, I just find it interesting. Both Brazen and the Beast and [b:The Wallflower Wager|40972652|The Wallflower Wager (Girl Meets Duke, #3)|Tessa Dare|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552950403l/40972652._SY75_.jpg|63928422] have:

- A strong and strong-willed main female character who takes life and pleasure at her own hands, never letting the men in her life decisions for her or bowing down to them. These women are fierce and know what they want and it's your head on the line if you choose to mess with them. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

- Self-made men of darkness. These men are not from the ton. They are not shiny and covered in gold, but they are rich, and they made their fortune in the dark, being ruthless-but not unkind-and doing whatever it takes to meet their goals. And so, naturally, both feel inadequate and undeserving of their female counterparts. Good thing these women are not really willing to go down without a fight.

- Dance related trauma. This was the first moment I paused and went 'huh', because even though they are different and come from different directions, both feature abuse that is revealed via and is related to dancing. I found it such an odd little detail to be in both!

- Found family. While the guys in TBB are connected by blood, they are more connected by heart and choice than anything else. The same goes for the cast of TWFW.

What is not the same:

- Ewan. This book made me so, so curious about him. I wondered, how MacLean will make this character, projected mostly as the villain, as a hero. And I happy to say that I think this book definitely gave up a hint of that. Here's my theory: Ewan did not care about the dukedom when he 'betrayed' his siblings. This whole time he has been saying he 'gave' the brothers Grace, etc etc... and I think he means it literally. I think Ewan realized the only way to protect his family was to 'betray' them--convince his father he had him, so he did not need to focus on his siblings. To make them run away and never look back, never let their father close.

Whit says something really important throughout this novel, which I think is foreshadowing for this exact thing; 'we learned quickly how to throw a punch and make it look like it would hurt, but pull it at the last moment so we never did real damage. Ewan was better at that than all of us.... you'd see it coming like a boulder, and it would land like a feather.' I feel like this is what he did, again, at that moment in time. He came at them like boulders--at the girl he loves and the boys he made brothers--but it landed like a feather. They all survived! They ran away, far from the abuser. They made something of themselves!

And this, this single belief, is what kept Ewan sane, or mostly sane, as he stayed behind. Fed poison day in day out. Until he couldn't take his own personal sacrifice anymore--what his family hates him and condemns him for... I don't think Ewan took it because he wanted it. I think he took it as a sacrifice.


I'm probably wrong, but hey, that's my theory and I think it will work well lol

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 4 February, 2020: Finished reading
  • 4 February, 2020: Reviewed